Unfortunately, I would not recommend anyone go to this Lincolnton shop for repairs. I appreciated a…read morequick oil change and politeness from staff, which made me feel comfortable with the recommended repairs they suggested: a new valve cover and spark plugs, because oil was coming from my engine. The manager assured me I needed new spark plugs because they had been covered in oil. Unfortunately, though, this wasn't the whole truth. The manager told me I needed new spark plugs because they had oil on them and were damaged -- note, I had purchased new spark plugs three weeks prior. Though I trusted his statement and came in the next day for the repairs.
As I was there, a woman entered complaining of the service that had been done on her car and how it had led to a rattling of her car. Additionally her wheel was now turning 360 just to get a turn. Additionally, the bolts in the car -- as she had taken her car to another shop to be looked-- had been allegedly hand-screwed by this Meineke and diagnosed at another shop after the work had been done. What was most alarming, though, was how the manager handled this customer. He assuaged her with claims of misdiagnosis, her own error in not following the shops suggestions (though she had and recieved repairs elsewhere as well) as well as claiming she had been scammed at another shop, though the work that had been done at this shop was the faulty work. This was being claimed on all sides. Her husband arrived, and he talked to him, and after they exited I was most alarmed by the fact the manager got on the phone with another individual and claimed the woman had been unreasonable and how the husband had been more reasonable. This was an erroneous claim, as he told a different story to the husband than he did to the wife. All this ensued right in front of me, including the calls to someone above him (I can only assume), as he gave them a tailored tale of the events and a tailored statement about his own words. This made me extremely nervous.
At this point, I am still waiting for my car, and he brings me the "damaged spark plugs," saying, "See how they were burnt..." Unfortunately, what I was looking at were brand new spark plugs that I had purchased three weeks ago, without oil and no obvious damage. This was the day before -- the same manager who was now showing me my spark plugs, claiming they were damaged, had said they had oil on them and needed to be replaced. I appreciated his work ethic, even his sales expertise -- I admired his strategies, even getting familiar with customers by calling them "boss man," making them comfortable. But at this point I felt swindled. I asked to see the mechanic; he obliged, and I met the mechanic 1, who was working on my car. I introduced myself and asked him about my spark plugs. He said, "Oh, they are fine." I asked him about the oil getting on them, and he said, "Oh no, no oil." So I said, "Why do they need to be replaced?" He said, "Oh no, they don't." I asked him why they were he stated "we just do what we are told" Thankfully, he was able to return them to my car. I got to see the valve -- it definitely needed to be replaced, thank you so much for that, after my request. And I was able to talk to the tech (tech 2) who diagnosed my car, and I asked him why I needed spark plugs. He said he never recommended that.
Thankfully, I caught this, and they returned my three-week-old spark plugs to the car. I was upset because I had been told a tale by the manager, who told me I needed new spark plugs -- a $120 up-charge -- because they had been covered in oil, and then portrayed these brand new spark plugs as damaged, assuming, perhaps, I had an untrained eye. Thankfully, my bill was revised, and I was able to speak to the manager, telling him I didn't believe that what he did was right and that I was misled. I will be contacting the district manager and will not be returning, on account of a lack of integrity, and would warn anyone who would consider this shop as well to frequent somewhere else.
